Validity And Accuracy Of Physical Activity Monitors For Estimating Energy Expenditure During Wheelchair Locomotion

To compare energy expenditure (EE) estimates of two physical activity monitors with measured EE during wheelchair locomotion. Participants were fourteen individuals who used manual wheelchairs. Each participant performed five different locomotion activities in a manual wheelchair. These activities included wheeling on a level surface that elicited a low rolling resistance at three different speeds (4.5, 5.5, and 6.5 km times hr super(-1)), wheeling on a rubberized 400m track that elicited a higher rolling resistance at one speed (5.5 km times hr super(-1)), and wheeling on sidewalk course that included uphill and downhill segments at the participants self-selected speed. A repeated measures ANOVA demonstrated a significant main effect between measured EE and estimated EE (p < 0.01). There were no significant differences between the criterion method and the AC (+ or -9 to 25%, p > 0.05). The SW significantly overestimated EE when wheeling at 4.5 km times hr super(-1), 5.5 km times hr super(-1), 6.5 km times hr super(-1), and during self-paced sidewalk wheeling (+30 to 80%, p < 0.05).